* The Tories won 322 seats, Labour 287, the Liberals 6, the Ulster Unionists 8, the Scottish National Party 1 and smaller parties 5, giving Heath a 31-seat majority.

* The plays in question were The Death of a Young, Young Man by Willy Russell, Funny Farm by Roy Minton, Just Another Saturday by Peter McDougall, Through the Night by Trevor Griffiths and Days of Hope by Jim Allen, which was directed by Ken Loach. Perhaps the biggest success was Griffiths’ play, which attracted 11 million viewers and launched a national debate about the treatment of women with breast cancer.